Visitors flock to Shepparton

It was a similar story at Shepparton Art Museum with thousands also visiting since mid-December.

While he is happy with the numbers at MOVE, Mr Hill said they were “not quite the same” as the Christmas and January period the previous year.

“I think that’s attributable to the floods and the economy,” he said.

“We still get calls about whether we (Shepparton) are still flooded.”

In September, before the floods, Mr Hill said visitor numbers at MOVE were high, however they dropped off since the floods, only really picking up greatly for these school holidays.

Mr Hill estimates several thousand people would have passed through the museum over the Christmas and new year period.

“We’re rapt. It’s beyond what the board and I had hoped for,” he said.

“Coming out of the floods it has exceeded the numbers we hoped for.”

Mr Hill said usually, throughout the year, MOVE would see visitor numbers split at 30 per cent locals and 70 per cent from other places.

Since Christmas, the numbers have seen about 90 per cent of the people visiting the museum coming from other towns.

He said the collection at MOVE was constantly changed so people could see something different each time they visited.

Currently, among the newer displays is one of European cars.

The museum is not just all about cars and trucks, there are also motorbike and bicycle displays, as well as a room dedicated to Furphy tanks and a 10,000-piece costume collection.

The Loel Thomson costume collection is a permanent display at MOVE, but given just how many pieces are in the collection, those that are on display are constantly changing.

Mr Hill said MOVE was conscious of making sure there were new items on display throughout the museum constantly.

“We are constantly changing things and get a lot of comments of ‘wow, this is different to last time,” Mr Hill said.

“My greatest nightmare is people come back (for another visit) and it is still the same.”

He said MOVE was an important attraction to try and get more people to come to Shepparton to visit for a few days, and said it worked in with other attractions and accommodation places to entice people to Shepparton for a holiday.

“For me, it’s about getting people to come and stay in Shepparton,” he said.

Shepparton Art Museum is another of the big tourist ventures that attracts plenty of visitors.

Since mid-December to January 11, 7166 people visited the museum.

About half of those are from outside the Greater Shepparton area.

These numbers are similar to visitor numbers for the same period the previous year, and up by 28 per cent compared to November visitor numbers.

SAM chief executive Melinda Martin said the museum continued to see great number through the door in January, with 3300 visitors in the first two weeks of January despite being closed over the public holidays and on Tuesdays.

“We are thrilled that visitors are enjoying our new major exhibition, Ceremony, which has come to us from the National Gallery of Australia,” Ms Martin said.

“SAM is the only Victorian venue for this national touring exhibition, which is something our community can be proud of.”

SAM Summer Camp has also been a hit with youngsters of all ages, with many of the programs sold out, Ms Martin said.

The Shepparton visitor centre has also seen decent numbers, according to statistics.

In the week before Christmas, 557 people used the visitor centre, while a mammoth 1210 visited between Christmas and new year.

From January 1 to 7, the visitor centre had 614 inquiries.